


Thick Thighs Save (After) Lives

by novashyperion



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Banter, Biting, Established Relationship, Ficlet, Hermes' Thighs, I Tried, M/M, Offerings, no beta we die like zagreus, thigh kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:15:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27391819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novashyperion/pseuds/novashyperion
Summary: Nestled at the God of Swiftness’ altar, Charon leaves evidence of his devotion.
Relationships: Charon/Hermes, Charon/Hermes (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 182





	Thick Thighs Save (After) Lives

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SouthernBird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SouthernBird/gifts).



> Hill made me do it

Despite the differing opinions on duties his brothers may have, Charon prescribed to his own set of rules. He was neither wholly committed as Thanatos, nor as lackadaisical as Hypnos. He did his duties as expected, and if he got a little coin to add to his maddening stores, then so be it. As long as the souls were delivered, Charon figured it mattered little what he did between pauses, however short they may be; his business, all three of them, were his own.

Two of them were already accounted for. The latest batch of souls were safely taken down to Thanatos’ waiting hands. The Prince of the Underworld had been kicked back home somewhere in Asphodel. Time passed differently above and below, but there were times when they managed to perfectly intersect.

Like now.

The God of Swiftness was sitting on an altar on the shore separating the surface from the Underworld. Hermes leaned back, content and comfortable, and, in rare form, idle. Nestled against his knuckles was his cheek, pulling languidly at the quick smile on his face. Charon drew his boat up and tethered it to shore. Hermes let his legs fall down and open, heels resting against the side of his boat. 

Charon gave a groan.

Hermes’ wings gave an excited flap. “Hello to you, too, my colleague. No, I haven’t waited long, though you look like you really booked to get up here. Am I right? I think I’m right. You’ve got that little look in your eyes.”

“Hhnnggrhh.”

“Oh? He got that far did he? That’s good, that’s good. No wonder you took so long. I should probably reward you for your efforts then, shouldn’t I? Seeing as how you broke a personal record just now.”

Charon might have huffed something like a laugh, used to Hermes’ rapid chatter. He could say so much in so little time, and cut through you even faster. It had been one thing Charon had first liked when the two had become workmates. An endless job gave little time for many pleasantries, but Hermes managed to fit them all in in record time; then he was fitting even more in a few centuries after. 

A flash of gold caught the Boatman’s eye, and he glanced in time to see an obol between Hermes’ fingers. He definitely huffed a laugh then. Charon rested a hand to one of Hermes’ thighs, long body bending towards the other god as far as the barrier between their worlds would let him. 

Just a hair’s breadth away, and he could almost feel Hermes’ finger pads where his upper half still lay across the land of the living. Hermes grinned, curling his fingers and pretended to tap the underside of his associate’s chin. “You’ll have to try harder than that, my friend.”

Charon groaned again. He locked eyes with Hermes and descended to his knees. His fingers dug into thick, supple flesh, deceptively nestled over hardened muscle. Charon sighed in satisfaction when the skin spilled between his fingers. Above him, Hermes shifted down a little more, the edge of his waist falling further over the meridian. With little warning, Hermes locked the Boatman in his grip, one powerful thigh coming up and over his head, knocking his hat askew, to lay lazily across the other. 

“Comfy? I hope so, I would hate for you to be anything but.” 

“Auuungh.”

They were at an impasse, it seemed. Charon required coins to trespass the Styx; Hermes, at times, could be persuaded to imbue good luck to bring wealth to businesses, if the offering was right. Neither would budge before the other. And time was ticking.

Charon bent his head and laid his first offering along Hermes’ knee. 

Liplessly, he kissed across the bone, one hand working along a calf. He whittled a mark as he went, mapping the trail of the Lethe into his associate's flesh. 

He’d known it by heart, each twist and turn. The way his oar should tilt in its descending waters. His teeth and thinned lips scraped underneath the thigh. The muscles shook in his grip. This, too, Charon knew. Where each old and faded mark laid, ready to be uncovered again. The rare tender spot that had Hermes’ sucking in his stomach, stuttering on a breath.

Hermes was slippery. It wasn’t enough that he was swift and sharp, but he was little more than passing water through Charon’s fingers most days. The ghost of his warmth hovering just beyond Charon’s reach. It was frustrating as it was challenging, and he welcomed it in equal parts. 

To catch Hermes was a feat. To hold him down, willingly unable to move, was a victory.

Charon crept up and up, trailing a bite and a lick across the wide expanse of unmarred skin, breathing purple vapor in staccato around him. It poured over the valley of Hermes’ hips, where a trail of poppy red marks bloomed just under the ends of his chiton. 

Hermes shivered. 

He struggled to reach towards Charon the scant few inches, grabbing uselessly just before the Boatman’s crown of hair. He squeezed his thighs tighter, until Charon had to tap for reprieve.

When Charon switched thighs, the wings at Hermes’ ankles flapped excitedly. 

He shouldered against him, fixing Hermes with a look that earned him a scoff.

“How else am I to react, pray tell?” Charon shrugged.

With a nip just above his boot, Charon mapped the Styx, gnawing into the calf along its bends, and digging the indent of his obol to mark its little isles. His tongue crept under the back of Hermes’ knee. He moved up and bit down; he wound himself around when Hermes bucked, jostling the boat as his feet flapped and trembled. 

“Auuuugh.”

Hermes didn’t have time to answer (rare in fact), before he was hissing out a moan. Charon squeezed, sucking the flesh between his teeth. His hands traveled up and over, cresting over the wide mountain before him, skirting at the hem of his chiton. He flipped it up, purple eyes lidding in its hollows, narrowing on the prize hidden under.

Charon raised up, digging his fingers into Hermes’ thighs and moved to lean forward. He groaned again, eyes flitting between his associate’s eyes and one of the many barriers separating them. Hermes was halfway to bowling him over when they both froze. 

Ah. There it was, time was up. 

Hermes flopped back, knocking head against the altar with a defeated sigh. He laid there for a moment longer than he was known to do; Charon took pride in that, groaning around a delighted chuckle.

“Well. Duty calls.”

Hermes raised up, and slid into the boat past the meridian. He readjusted Charon’s hat for him before he pressed the obol into his hand.

Swiftly, he took hold of the boatman’s cloak, fingers digging into the embroidered coins and pulled him in. He swept his tongue along the seam of Charon’s thin lips, slipping mischievously between them when Charon dared to sigh against him. He kissed him senseless, like time wouldn’t pass, like his feet weren’t already flapping heels over head to race them across the earth for the next job.

Slowly, Hermes parted from him, fingers trailing under Charon’s chin.

Charon stood still, unable to move, unable to think. His hollowed out purple eyes swirling around in its sockets, dizzy. A glint caught his eye as Hermes crossed back over. Between his fingers was another obol. Charon felt along his cloak. He found one missing but didn’t have the heart to mind.

Hermes grinned as he took off. “For next time.” 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank god Hill made me do it
> 
> -
> 
> I'm assuming since Charon is of the Underworld, like Zagreus, he has his limitations on how far he can go. Hence the setting, and the half living land, half underworld where he and Hermes hang out at. Hermes is also apparently the God of Commerce and Crossroads.
> 
> inspired by this art
> 
> https://twitter.com/leggycake/status/1319691001770987520?s=19
> 
> Kinda stiff cuz I haven't written in a while. Feel free to tell me how to improve!
> 
> https://shyfoxes.tumblr.com/post/633898770700091392/thick-thighs-save-after-lives


End file.
